Well, the 5th Age boxed set was supposed to have rules for making
player character draconians, and with the info on Teyr and stuff, it
seemed well thought out.
Unfortunately, the rules got cut. Anyway, a friend of mine and I, who
happen to love the scaly guys, came up with rules of our own for
player character draconians that, based on our test runs, yields
characters who are generally around the neighborhood of some of the
draconians in the book, give or take a few points. Right now, I've
only done them for Bozak and Sivak draconians (Aurak are somewhat
complicated with their weird powers,and Kapak and Baaz aren't realy
cool enough), but here goes:***
If, in your Fate Hand, you draw three or more cards from the suit of
Dragons, you may choose to attempt to make a draconian. If you elect
to do so, set the cards from the suit of Dragons aside and draw a
number of additional cards equal to the number of Dragon cards you
had. If you draw more Dragons in this way, set them aside too and
keep going until you have twelve fate cards from the normal suits.
Keeping the cards from the suit of Dragons aside, build your character
as per normal with the other twelve cards.
If you are making a Bozak draconian, subtract a total of five grades
from Agility, Dexterity, Endurance, and Strength and add a number of
points equal to the sum of the values of the Dragon cards to your
mental attributes. Bozaks must have a grade of "A" in Reason.
If you are making a Sivak draconian, subtract a total of five grades
from Reason, Perception, Spirit, and Presence and add the sum of the
value of the Dragon cards to your physical attributes. Sivak must
have a grade of "A" in Strength, and their maximum grade for Reason
and Spirit is "C."
The maximum stat rating for any draconian is 15. If you have extra
points left over, too bad, they go away. Due to their tough, scaly
hides and innate magic resistance, any card a draconian character
plays from his hand when taking damage is trumped.
When increasing their stats due to experience, draconians raise the
stats where they lost grades normally. However, when attempting to
raise stats that were improved by the Dragon cards, draconians do it this way:
If a draconian draws a dragon card when attempting to raise his
attribute, it is considered Trump. If the new total is higher than
his stat and the suit of the card drawn matches the stat in question,
the stat goes up. To raise a grade in their improved stats, draconian
characters must first draw the 10 of Dragons and THEN draw the 9 of
the required suit.***
Depending on the luck of the draw, draconians can be really, really
nasty, but considering what they're like in the book, that's to be
expected. Because your dragon cards are set aside, draconians also
tend to start with less money and fewer quests under their belts, but
the stat bonuses, IMO make up for this.Well, tell me what you all think, OK?
Oh yeah... I meant to include a sample character that we got that
seems pretty indicative of the type of draconians that the system
creates. Here goes:
Name: Kavin Race: Draconian (Sivak) Role: Jaded Veteran Quests: 8 Wealth: 3 Homeland: Sanction Ag: 12B Rn: 4C Dx: 12A Pn: 7B En: 12A Sp: 6C St: 14A Pr: 8A Special Abilities: Winged Flight, Acute Sight
--Jim L.